With the school year winding down, the two makerspaces at Lab are nearly complete, with an open house scheduled for May 24 beginning at 3:30 p.m.

With the “clean room” located in one of the classrooms behind the Pritzker Traubert Family Library and the “messy room” or “Lab Shop” to be located on the third floor of the U-High building, students will have more opportunities to engage with different crafts and design principles than are offered in the Lab School curriculum.

Science teacher Daniel Calleri is confident about the possibility of students reaching a higher level of understanding within the school context in the makerspace.

“What we’d all like to see it as a way of extending things that we currently have in our curriculum, topics or content, into a space where the construction of something would really elevate student understanding,” Dr. Calleri said. “What if adding that third dimension and allowing them to participate in the construction of something really just sets that content idea firmly?”

Additionally, Dr. Calleri believes the Lab Shop will allow for healthier and more hands-on experiences for all students.

“At this point, there’s more research to suggest that people who do things like this are healthier both mentally and physically than people who just sit on their keisters and watch the tube,” Dr. Calleri said.

Matthew Martino, a former science teacher whose contract was not renewed in 2017, will return to Lab to head the makerspaces. He and ESH Technology Coordinator Louis Coronel will work together to create and organize opportunities related to making for U-High teachers and students.

Although the makerspaces present new opportunities for students, there are also logistical issues such as the small classroom size and potential scheduling conflicts for different classes. Before the Lab Shop opens, the space must undergo safety assessments by the university and a supervisor must be hired, according to Dr. Calleri.